Are offline maps tied to AGOL user accounts?

Question

I'm experiencing an issue when different users sign-in to the same device the downloaded offline maps are not accessible. Question is: Are downloaded offline maps tied to AGOL user accounts?

Tech A signs in, downloads an offline area, does their work, syncs at the end of the day and all is well. The next day a different user, Tech B, signs in and the offline area is no longer downloaded. They have the option to download an offline area or create an offline area themselves however the offline area downloaded by Tech A is not there. Is this expected behavior? It seems like a massive waste of device storage for each user to have to download and store the same area.

L77 · Answer

Yes, that is correct that each user has to download an offline area even thought they are using the same tablet.

I learned a little bit about this recently while trying to learn how to sideload a basemap.

If you are using an apple device, navigate to the "Files" app.

Click "on my ipad"

click "field maps"

There will be a folder for each user who had an offline area downloaded on the device.

If you click on the folder for a user you can see all of their offline areas.

I don't know if this also shows the "predefined" areas you can create in the field maps designer, or if it only shows the offline areas that the user has chosen to download on the device.

If you create a custom basemap and "sideload" it on the device I believe that the basemap is available to all users on the device, but they would still have to download an offline area of the app to be able to use it offline.

I know you are not asking how to sideload basemaps, but I found this link and their instructions on how to sideload are helpful and they have screenshot on how to access the files that are on the device:

https://egis.pinellas.gov/apps/DamageAssessment/

I agree, that it would save space on the device to only have 1 offline area per app.

ClayDonaldsonSWCA · Answer

yes this is the case of how offline areas are managed in field maps. though there is an alternative, pre-loading a basemap on the device. Then the users would only need to download the feature data, not all the imagery/other basemaps. See: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/field-maps/latest/prepare-maps/configure-the-map.htm#ESRI_SECTION2_4308BA6C95E543C1B209EBEB95A00452